


Midori Sweet

by malevolentmango



Series: Midori Sweet [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Noodle Dragons, Young Genji Shimada
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 08:43:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9988334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malevolentmango/pseuds/malevolentmango
Summary: Jesse McCree isn't sure what surprises him more about his mission in Hanamura: the mysterious green dragons that follow him around, or the fact that he's becoming awfully attached to the Shimada that they belong to.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theartisticfox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartisticfox/gifts).



> A huge thank you to my beta [Tsoleil](http://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorqui) for reading this for me despite not being super into McGenji. You're wonderful and I don't deserve you. <3
> 
> This fic was a "request" from [Foxy](http://theartisticfoxyhipster.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, who asked for cute Blackwatch-era McGenji and noodle dragons. I've incorporated some of her headcanons into this, namely that prior to The Incident with Hanzo, Genji also had two dragons. If you'd like to "request" a fic from me, you can find me on tumblr [here](http://malevolentmango.tumblr.com).

At this point, Jesse’s fairly certain he’s not just seeing things. 

 

That or he’s finally gone insane, and honestly, he’s a little insulted to have gone off before Reyes, if that’s the case.

 

But he once heard someone say that if you’re capable of questioning your own sanity, you’re probably not crazy at all. Which leaves him completely without an explanation for the pair of incandescent green dragons floating in lazy circles through the air in his hotel room in Hanamura.

 

“What in tarnation…” he mutters, before immediately glancing towards the door. Reyes had gone out to get supplies not long ago, right after their first meeting with their unfairly attractive potential contact inside the Shimada clan. 

 

But this certainly isn’t the kind of situation Jesse wants to try to explain to his boss. Mostly because he doesn’t think he  _ can. _

 

The same glance shows him that Peacekeeper is just out of reach on the night stand. He can get to it in a few seconds if he needs to, but he has a feeling his trusty revolver isn’t going to help him much in this case.

 

One of the dragons is sticking its tongue out at him. Jesse thinks he should probably be offended.

 

“Y’all better be gone by the time my boss gets back.”

 

The other dragon, the one that’s not currently being a cheeky little shit, tilts its head to the side at his words. They remind Jesse a lot of ferrets, if ferrets were suddenly four times bigger, bright green, and gravity-defying. But these are clearly dragons, at least of the Japanese variety. They certainly don’t look the way Jesse’s pictured dragons before, when Reinhardt went off on one of his tangents about becoming a great dragon slayer.

 

Jesse knew joining Blackwatch meant a lifetime of experiencing weird shit. He just hadn’t expected that to include  _ mythical creatures. _

 

“So...where did y’all come from anyway? And please don’t say ‘your dreams,’ ‘cause that’s my line.”

 

The dragons don’t respond to him immediately. The cheeky one does, however, put its tongue back into its mouth and float a little closer to him, curiously. Even in the dim light cast by the cheap hotel lamps, it’s a beautiful, shimmering green, moving through the air like a fish through water.

 

He’s totally unprepared when the dragon opens it’s mouth and replies to him.

 

“Fascination.”

 

Jesse has absolutely nothing to say. If Reyes was here right now, he’d call it a goddamn miracle.

 

Of course, if Reyes was here, he’d probably have a lot better grasp on the situation than Jesse currently does.

 

“What, uh...I’m guessin’ that’s not where you’re from.”

 

In an instant, the other dragon crosses the room, slithering around his neck like a scarf. Jesse jumps, his hands coming up automatically to try to pry the thing away, but its grip on him is too loose to be of any threat. It slides through his hands until he’s looking into the dragon’s eyes, warm, silky scales across the back of his neck, making him shiver. He finds that he can’t look away.

 

“You are a fascination,” it says, a voice that seems to echo despite being so deep and quiet that he can barely hear it. “We are a conduit.”

 

The cheeky dragon nods, its head bobbing lazily through the air. 

 

Jesse swallows uncertainly. “Gonna be honest here y’all, I don’t rightly know what the hell that means.”

 

The dragon around his neck flicks its tongue out at him, almost touching the tip of his nose, before it retreats to join its fellow. Without another word, they begin to drift away.

 

It’s only as the dragons are leaving, floating in slow, circuitous motions as they pass through the closed window in a smoky green haze, that Jesse realizes what they remind him of: the symbol of the Shimada clan.

 

~~~

 

He doesn’t tell Reyes about the dragons.

 

They’ve met with the younger Shimada brother, Genji, dozens of times in the few months they’ve been here. But Jesse never mentions the dragons to Reyes, even though he’s pretty sure they belong to one of the clan members. It’s not that he doesn’t think Reyes would believe him, because if anyone knows that strange things are liable to happen in this world, it’s his boss.

 

It’s that the dragons keep coming back.

 

They never show up when Reyes is around; they appear to him when he’s alone in the hotel room, or when he’s picking up lunch. They show up most often during his middle-of-the-night smoke breaks, where they float through his hazy exhales in the moonlight, looking like creatures from another world.

 

They never try to hurt him, although he gets the distinct feeling that they could. They never appear when he’s working on case files, or when he’s making a call back to base on a secure line. They never do anything more than curl around him in maddening circles, talking in riddles and generally making him feel like a fool.

 

He kind of hopes they're as much of a pain to whichever Shimada they belong to as they are to him. But despite that, he finds himself looking forward to seeing them.

 

Speaking of Shimadas: he's very nearly late for another meeting with one.

 

Jesse's talking to Genji alone this time. A show of trust, Reyes had said, followed by “He seems to like you more than me.”

 

“Ain’t like that's a big shock, boss,” he'd said. Reyes had promptly kicked him out of the hotel room in response.

 

All he knows about Genji are the details in his file - age 22, expert swordsman, playboy lifestyle, the youngest member of the Shimada family, second to his older brother and the heir of the clan, Hanzo - a bare mishmash of facts that isn’t anything like the man he’s met in back alleys and empty warehouses across Hanamura.

 

The Genji he knows is almost overly-friendly, the opposite of what he would expect from an actual, real-life ninja, and smart in a subtle sort of way that no doubt left his enemies at a loss for how to deal with him. And it wasn’t too hard for Jesse to believe Genji when he said he wanted to escape the criminal organization that he’d belonged to for so long.

 

After all, he could relate.

 

He's meeting Genji at a club this time, the type where you can feel the pulse of the music before ever setting foot inside. Jesse finds him leaning against the building opposite, and immediately realizes three things. 

 

One, Genji is devastatingly beautiful in slim-fitting black pants and an open-collared shirt that's so tight around the arms that Jesse can see the way his muscles move beneath his skin.

 

Two, having a meeting alone with a man he may or may not have developed an enormous crush on during his short time in Hanamura is probably a terrible idea, but Jesse’s not about to complain.

 

Three, Genji has dyed his hair a vivid green since the last time they met. And Jesse might be a gambling man, but he doesn't believe in coincidences.

 

Those dragons that have been trailing him belong to Genji. He’s just not sure  _ why. _

 

“Yo!” Genji says when he approaches. He shrugs off the wall in one smooth movement, the lithe flex of his body leaving Jesse’s mouth gaping open for a moment before he remembers himself.

 

“Howdy.” Jesse looks around at the people milling about the street, at the neon lights spilling through the door of the club, anywhere but at the too-pleasant distraction that is Genji. “Ain’t this place a bit, I dunno, _ obvious  _ for a secret meetin’?”

 

Genji just shrugs. “No one has ever questioned my taking a handsome man out for a few drinks before. Why should they now?” 

 

Jesse is so taken aback that he almost misses the flash of a smirk that crosses Genji’s face, and he doesn’t put up a fight when Genji slips an arm through his and leads him across the street. To the bouncer at the door, who simply nods and steps aside when he catches Genji’s eye, he is just another of the younger Shimada’s conquests.

 

Smart, Jesse thinks. Too damn smart.

 

Most of the club is devoted to a crowded dance floor and a bar that lines the back wall, but Genji ignores them both. Instead, they make their way up a staircase off to the side, guarded by another bouncer who recognizes Genji on sight, up to a second floor that overlooks the first. The constant thump of the music is muted here, and a single glance around shows that they’re completely alone.

 

They take their seats on a plush couch, pushed against a wall and out of sight of both the stairs and the balcony that looks out onto the dance floor. There are two bottles, one of sake and another of champagne, chilling on a low table in front of them. Genji pulls two glasses towards them.

 

“Do you have a preference?”

 

“I’m up for anythin’.”

 

Genji smirks, and Jesse sort of hates how it makes him look even prettier. He pours a measure of sake for each of them and hands Jesse his glass, and doesn’t comment when Jesse waits for Genji to drink first.

 

“S’pose I gotta give you credit,” Jesse says, leaning back against the cushions with an appreciative sigh. “This is definitely the swankiest place I’ve ever met up with a contact.”

 

Genji laughs. “No, your boss does not seem the type to hold meetings in a place like this.”

 

“Probably a good thing he ain’t here. He’d be houndin’ me ‘bout drinkin’ on the job too.”

 

“Oh, I am under no illusions about that.” Genji gives him a pointed look. “I am certain he’s waiting around the corner somewhere, should you require his assistance.”

 

Jesse narrows his eyes. Too damn smart. Reyes is indeed waiting for his emergency signal in a building down the street, just in case, and not “meeting up with an old friend from Kyoto,” as they’d told Genji when he’d suggested a date for their next exchange.

 

“Guess it pays to be paranoid when you’re a ninja, huh?”

 

“Indeed.” Genji doesn’t seem bothered by this at all. In fact, he seems a little relieved, as if he’d been expecting Jesse to deny it. “Although, I am curious why you would come by yourself if he thought it would be dangerous.”

 

Jesse puts on his biggest smile. “Well, sugar, that’s because he’s convinced you like me better.”

 

Genji takes a sip of his drink, runs his tongue along the rim of the glass to catch a stray drop. “He is not wrong.”

 

Jesse drinks deeply, if only to have something else to focus on. He can’t afford to be distracted like this on a mission, and it’s important to remember that Genji  _ is _ a mission. If they can convince HQ to bring Genji on, they’ll have a valuable asset in taking down the Shimada clan’s trafficking network.

 

It’s just that Genji is so very  _ good _ at being distracting.

 

He doesn’t want to see where that line of thinking goes, so he blurts out the first question that comes to mind. “So, what’s your plan exactly?” 

 

“For what?”

 

“For this.” Jesse gestures between the two of them, and then immediately blushes when he realizes how that could be taken. By the smirk that crosses Genji’s face, he’s obviously thinking the same thing. “I mean...for maintain’ contact with us. I’m thinkin’ your family don’t take too kindly to people spillin’ the kinda secrets we’re lookin’ for.”

 

Genji shrugs, a smooth, elegant shuffle of his shoulders that would look ridiculous if Jesse attempted it. “Leaving the castle is not a problem. They expect very little of me in comparison to my brother.”

 

“And your brother? Is he gonna notice you sneakin’ off like this?”

 

“My brother believes I spend all my time going to parties and getting drunk.”

 

Jesse leans in without thinking about it, eyeing the glass in Genji’s hand. “And that ain’t somethin’ you do?”

 

The sly upturn of Genji’s lips makes his stomach flip. “It would be a waste to put so much effort into a disguise and not have a little fun with it.”

 

Jesse swallows convulsively. “Well, I s’pose it would…”

 

“That reminds me,” Genji says, inching closer to Jesse on the couch, and Jesse is suddenly reminded how very alone they are. “I am to join your organization at some point, yes? What is it that Blackwatch agents do for fun?”

 

Genji is wearing eyeliner, he realizes. It’s a remarkably good look on him, but he would never have noticed if he wasn’t sitting so damn close.

 

“Well, uh…” 

 

Jesse should move away.

 

He doesn’t.

 

“Not a whole lotta time for fun, if I’m honest. Reyes likes to say if he ain’t drownin’ on a mission, he’s drownin’ in all the paperwork we gotta do when we get back to base.” 

 

Genji tilts his head slightly. When his lips part to reply, Jesse finds he can’t look away from them.

 

“That is disappointing.”

 

“But, you know, we make do. Ain’t all business. Missions are always interestin’. And sometimes I get to spend an evenin’ in a club with a handsome fella like yourself.” 

 

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he can hear the echo of Reyes’ voice in his head.  _ “Don’t fuck the mission.” _

 

Jesse thinks, petulantly, that it’s the mission’s fault for being so damn fuckable.

 

Genji runs light, teasing fingers down the length of his arm. “And how do those evenings usually end?”

 

Jesse is about to say something incredibly cheesy - “Why don’tcha come on over here and find out?” is on the tip of his tongue, despite all his internal protesting - when he notices a glow out of the corner of his eye. A very familiar green glow.

 

The two dragons that have been following him around for days are now here in the club, floating into view above Genji’s head. They could almost be mistaken for one of the neon lights illuminating the dance floor, if only they weren’t  _ moving. _

 

Genji turns his head to see what's caught Jesse's attention, and freezes up at the sight of the dragons. All of his confidence seems to disappear in an instant. He jerks his hand up in a short, angry motion before apparently remembering that he has an audience. It clenches into a fist on top of his thigh instead.

 

The dragons simply stare at Genji. One of them tilts its head upwards, as if about to speak, but all Jesse hears is the steady thump of music from downstairs.

 

“Knew they had to be yours,” Jesse says, and Genji’s eyes snap to meet his, wide and uncertain.

 

“What?”

 

Jesse gestures a bit uselessly at the dragons, as if they both might have forgotten they were there. “You know, Shimadas and dragons. Kinda y’alls thing right? Didn’t expect that to mean  _ literal _ dragons, but hell, ain’t the first unexplainable thing I seen workin’ with Blackwatch--”

 

“Wait.” Genji cuts him off, staring at him like Jesse’s the one who can magically sprout dragons at any given moment, which Jesse thinks is just a little bit unfair. “You have...seen them before?”

 

“Pretty goddamn hard to miss, if you ask me.” 

 

Genji’s voice takes on a harsh edge. “Where did you see them?”

 

Jesse frowns. Genji has retreated about as far away from him as he can while still sitting on the same couch, and is staunchly ignoring the dragons that swirl carelessly around his head, almost exactly the same shade of green as his hair. They seem to pay Genji no mind, but occasionally turn their heads towards Jesse.

 

And that’s when it hits him. “You didn’t send them.”

 

Genji’s silence sounds an awful lot like a confirmation.

 

Jesse holds out a hand, curiously. He’s never tried to touch them before, but something about knowing for certain that they belong to Genji makes him a little bolder. 

 

They both watch with wide eyes as one of the dragons floats towards him without hesitation, wrapping itself around Jesse's wrist like some kind of living bracelet. Its body is warm and weighs almost nothing, but when it meets Jesse's eyes he feels like he's six years old again, getting lectured by his teacher for drawing cowboy hats on the heads of all the presidents in his history textbook. 

 

And then it flops its head against Jesse’s hand and sticks its tongue out at him. The cheeky one, then.

 

“Orenji…” Genji says on a sigh, rolling his eyes, and a bit of the tension in the room dissipates.

 

“What?”

 

“It’s his name. This one,” he gestures over his shoulder to the other dragon, which has draped itself over Genji’s shoulders, “is Midori.”

 

“‘Orange’ and ‘Green’? Weird names for dragons…”

 

Genji runs a hand through his shock of green hair, blushing. Jesse can’t help but find an embarrassed Genji adorable. “I was very young when they first appeared to me.”

 

“So it’s like a family thing then? Y’all just...have dragons?”

 

“Yes. Although typically they only appear to strangers when they are called upon to kill them.” There’s a hint of judgement in his voice, as if this is not the first time the dragons have misbehaved. “They can be...willful.”

 

Orenji makes a sort of hissing sound in Genji’s direction, and Jesse smirks. “So kinda like their master then.”

 

Genji laughs. “Yes, I suppose so.”

 

Jesse watches, fascinated, as Orenji twists around his arm languidly, a shimmer of green scales. When he looks up, Genji isn’t watching the dragon; instead, he catches Genji staring at him.

 

A few things start to make a lot more sense.

 

“They react to your emotions, don’t they?” Jesse says, not really a question, but Genji gives a hesitant nod anyway. Jesse responds with a wide grin. “Guess that explains all that cryptic shit they were tellin’ me.”

 

“They spoke to you?”

 

“Oh, yeah. Said I was fascinating, that I was  _ worthy. _ That they’re a conduit.” The more he says, the redder Genji becomes. Jesse’s probably enjoying this a bit too much. “Somewhere in all that nonsense I’m guessin’ what they mean is that you’ve got a thing for me.”

 

“Ridiculous,” Genji mutters, but he won’t meet Jesse’s eyes. “You have only been here a few months.”

 

Jesse shrugs. “That’s more’n enough time. I should know.”

 

He manages to clamp his mouth shut before he can add anything else incriminating.

 

Genji does look up at him then, his mouth slightly open, his eyes wide. Vulnerable, for just an instant, before he shakes his head and stands up, calling Orenji back to him with a wave of his hand. 

 

Jesse doesn’t move. Once again, his big mouth has gotten the better of him.

 

When Genji speaks, his voice is like ice. “You are welcome to stay and enjoy the rest of your evening if you like. The guards will not bother you.” 

 

Jesse thinks he’s never sounded more like a son of the Shimada lord than in that moment. It’s an attitude that doesn’t quite fit him, like a suit tailored one size too large. But all Jesse can do is watch him leave, wondering if the evening might have gone differently if he’d just kept his mouth shut.

 

~~~

 

The dragons don’t stop visiting him.

 

He wonders if Genji has tried telling them to stop, if they’re just not listening to him. A smaller, quieter part of him hopes that he lets them find Jesse with no complaints. That he allows himself that much, if nothing else. It’s a hope that makes him miss Genji all the more.

 

Which is ridiculous, when he sees Genji every few days for updates - only ever with Reyes in tow, because Genji refuses to meet with him alone. But where before there were stolen glances and what Jesse would describe as “subtle flirting” but what Reyes would likely say was “goddamn idiotic,” there was now nothing.

 

Just the constant reminder that their time in Hanamura is quickly coming to an end, and that Jesse should never have let himself care so much, but damn it,  _ he did.  _ And if there’s one thing Jesse McCree never wants to be, it’s a coward. 

 

And so he makes a plan, a hasty one, scrawled on scrap paper as Orenji curls around his hat and peeks down at him over the brim and Midori gazes critically over his shoulder at what he writes. 

 

Part of him still can’t believe the dragons are even real. But he’s grateful for their presence; it means he’s on the right path, for once in his life. It just figures it would take him until his last day in Hanamura to figure that out.

 

Jesse arrives late - strategically, of course - to a small coffee shop just outside the city, where the Shimada clan’s influence doesn’t quite reach and Genji will be left alone. Genji thinks this is his last meeting with Jesse and Reyes before they leave; Reyes thinks Jesse has gone out for a bite to eat.

 

Jesse thinks saying goodbye to his almost-not-quite lover shouldn’t feel so much like a covert mission.

 

Genji is waiting at a small booth in the back of the shop, his hands wrapped around a large mug. When he looks up and sees Jesse, alone, he frowns. But he doesn’t seem surprised. Maybe Jesse isn’t as sneaky as he thought.

 

“Where does your boss think you’ve gone?” Genji asks as Jesse takes a seat across from him, setting a thin manila folder on the table between them. He slaps Genji’s hand away teasingly when he reaches out to open it, shaking his head.

 

“Well now, can’t leave Japan without havin’ one last bowl of Rikimaru, can I?”

 

Genji smiles, and it feels like it’s been so long since Jesse’s seen that look on his face that he can’t help but smile back, basking in the way Genji’s eyes light up.

 

“So I can’t stay long,” he adds, reluctantly. Genji nods.

 

“And then you will be back at Blackwatch. Wherever that is.”

 

Jesse chuckles. “Now darlin’, you know I can’t tell you that,” he says with a cheeky grin. “But you’ll find out when you get there. Or at least, I hope you will.”

 

Genji heaves a reluctant sigh, one that Jesse wishes he wasn’t the cause of. He wants his smiling, coy Genji back, if only just for these last few moments.

 

“I apologize for the way I acted at the club.” Genji’s voice is quiet but sincere as he runs one slim finger around the rim of his cup. “Truthfully I...panicked. I am not used to…”

 

“Havin’ a crush?”

 

That shocks a laugh out of Genji, and he finally meets Jesse’s eyes. “Yes, I suppose.”

 

“Then I guess we’re on the same level there, partner.”

 

They share a long look over the table, and without thinking Jesse reaches across it and takes Genji’s hand. Genji doesn’t pull away. Instead, he winds his fingers through Jesse’s.

 

“I have not changed my mind about joining you in Blackwatch. I will be there.”

 

“Then I’ll wait for you.”

 

He can tell from the way Genji’s eyebrows fly up into his fringe that he hasn’t taken Jesse’s reply at face value. That he’s heard the emphasis on  _ you _ \- that when Jesse says “wait,” he means “look forward to, count the days until, give anything to make the time between shorter.”

 

But even so, all he says is: “What?”

 

“Well, someone’s gotta be there to show you a good time. And anyway, I ain’t never had someone worth waitin’ for. Think maybe I’ll give it a shot.”

 

“But why would you wait for me?”

 

“Feels like I ain’t got much choice there, sugar. But just so we’re clear: I didn’t need Orenji and Midori followin’ me around to have you on my mind all the damn time anyway.”

 

Genji just stares at him. Then he slides out of the booth and stands up, and for one horrible moment Jesse thinks he might be walking out again. Instead, he kneels on the edge of the bench where Jesse sits, and Jesse has just enough presence of mind to turn and face him, to catch him when Genji practically falls into his arms.

 

Being totally surprised doesn’t stop Jesse from thoroughly enjoying the kiss that Genji plants on him without a second thought, fierce and desperate. Jesse can feel the hard line of tension in his body when he wraps his arms around Genji’s back as he sinks further into the kiss. He wishes he could soothe him. But all he can do is respond with equal fervor - all he can do is feel exactly the same way.

 

They break apart to the incessant chiming of Jesse’s comm, a reminder that Reyes is waiting. Genji begins to shift away reluctantly. Jesse pulls him back in by the scruff of his neck for another kiss, savoring the way Genji’s mouth feels against his, before finally letting him go.

 

For once, Jesse finds himself at a loss for words. All he comes up with, before he steals one more gentle kiss and turns to leave, is a reassurance: “I’ll wait for you, Genji.”

 

He takes one last look at Genji’s face through the coffee shop window, framed in sadness and hope in equal measure under his shock of bright green hair, before he heads out to meet Reyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees an iridescent shimmer of green, flickering hesitantly in his direction before disappearing back into the building.

 

What he doesn’t see is Genji flipping the file open distractedly, or the brief shock on his face when he finds a single sheet of paper with a handwritten message instead of the mission notes he expects. He doesn’t hear the disbelieving snort, or the murmur of his voice as he reads the words under his breath, or the small, excited noise he makes when he gets to the end. 

 

But he does get the replay later, when Genji calls him on the secure number he left at the bottom of the page, right above his signature: “Love, Jesse.”


End file.
